ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Cabinet
Cabinet approves Extension of tenure of the National Commission for SafaiKarmacharis beyond 31.3.2019 for three years
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for Extension of tenure of the National Commissionfor SafaiKarmacharis beyond 31.3.2019 for three years.
Salient Features:
The NCSK was established in the year 1993 as per the provisions of the NCSK Act 1993 initially for the period upto 31.3.1997. Later the validity of the Act was initially extended upto 31.3.2002 and thereafter upto 29.2.2004. The NCSK Act ceased to have effect from 29.2.2004. After that the tenure of the NCSK has been extended as a non-statutory body from time to time. The tenure of the present Commission is upto 31.3.2019.
Major impact:
The major beneficiaries of the proposal would be the SafaiKaramcharis and persons engaged in manual scavenging in the country since the NCSK will work for their welfare and upliftment.The number of Manual Scavengers identified under the MS Act Survey as on 31.01.2019 is 14226 and under the National Survey undertaken by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment at the behest of NITI Aayog is 31128 on 31.01.2019.
Background:
The NCSK has been giving its recommendations to the Government regarding specific programmes for welfare of SafaiKaramcharis, study and evaluate the existing welfare programmes for SafaiKaramcharis, investigate cases of specific grievances etc. Also as per the provisions of the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, the NCSK has been assigned the work to monitor the implementation of the Act, tender advice for its effective implementation to the Centre and State Governments and enquire into complaints regarding contravention/non-implementation of the provisions of the Act. Though the Government has taken many steps for the upliftment of the SafaiKaramcharis, the deprivation suffered by them in socio-economic and educational terms is still far from being eliminated. Further the practice of manual scavenging is still prevalent in the country and its eradication continues to be an area of the highest priority for the Government.
Hence, the Government feels that there is a continued need to monitor the various interventions and initiatives of the Government for welfare of SafaiKaramcharis and to achieve the goal of complete eradication of the practice of manual scavenging in the country. Therefore, the Cabinet has approved the present proposal for grant of extension of the tenure of National Commission for SafaiKaramcharis  for three more years beyond 31.3.2019.
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Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Raising of Maximum Age Limit for Job Aspirants
For recruitment to Central Government posts, the recruiting agencies, such as the Union Public Service Commission , have been making necessary arrangements for conduct of examinations in a safe manner considering the COVID-19 Pandemic safety protocols. While conducting Civil Services  Examination-2020 on 04.10.2020, the UPSC also gave an option to the candidates to change the centre for Civil Services  Examination-2020 so that candidates who had moved to a different location before/during the COVID-19 pandemic could also appear in the Examination. As such, the need for increasing the maximum age limit for recruitment to various categories of posts under the Central Government, due to the pandemic and lockdown in the country, does not arise. Insofar as the increase in maximum age limit by two years for all the eligible unemployed youths, who are seeking State Government jobs is concerned, it is for the concerned State Governments to decide.
This information was provided by the Union Minister of State  Development of North-Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh in written reply to questions in Rajya Sabha today.
Prime Minister's Office
PM expresses best wishes to PM of UK
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has expressed his best wishes for good health of PM of United Kingdom, Mr Boris Johnson as he tests positive for COVID 19.
“Dear PM Boris Johnson, You’re a fighter and you will overcome this challenge as well. Prayers for your good health and best wishes in ensuring a healthy UK” the Prime Minister said.
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Ministry of Finance
Monthly Review of Accounts of Union Government of India upto the month of June 2022 for the Financial Year 2022-23
The Monthly Account of the Union Government of India upto the month of June, 2022 has been consolidated and reports published. The highlights are given below:-
The Government of India has received ₹5,96,040 crore  upto June, 2022 comprising ₹5,05,898 crore Tax Revenue , ₹62,160 crore of Non-Tax Revenue and ₹27,982 crore of Non Debt Capital Receipts. Non-Debt Capital Receipts consists of Recovery of Loans of ₹3,423 crore and Miscellaneous Capital Receipts of ₹24,559 crore. ₹1,42,775 crore has been transferred to State Governments as Devolution of Share of Taxes by Government of India upto this period which is ₹25,251 crore higher than the previous year.
Total Expenditure incurred by Government of India is ₹9,47,911 crore , out of which ₹7,72,847 crore is on Revenue Account and ₹1,75,064 crore is on Capital Account. Out of the Total Revenue Expenditure, ₹2,28,595 crore is on account of Interest Payments and ₹67,980 crore is on account of Major Subsidies.
Ministry of Railways
ECoR OBSERVED JANJATIYA GAURAV DIWAS:
East Coast Railway observed Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas 2022 at its HQs at Bhubaneswar and at all its Divisions at Khurda Road, Waltair & Sambalpur to commemorate the Birth Anniversary of Dharti Aba Bhagwan Birsa Munda, the Iconic Freedom Fighter and Tribal Leader of the Country.
JanJatiya Gaurav Diwas was also observed at various Stations over East Coast Railway jurisdiction. To mark the occasion, Essay, Quiz, Debate competitions were also organised at different Railway Units at HQs, Divisions and at various Railway Stations.
To mark the occasion, East Coast Railway made different activities by placing Banners at important Stations and Offices. Played audio on Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas during announcement at Stations. These apart friendly football matches were organised amongst the railway men.
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Ministry of Defence
INDIAN ARMY ORGANISES A WEBINAR ON ‘INDIAN ARMY MAKE PROJECTS 2021
The Indian Army in conjunction with FICCI organised a webinar on ‘Indian Army Make Projects’ on 08 November 2021. This was the sixth such webinar since the inception of the Make process in 2016.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief of Army Staff, General MM Naravane, emphasised the Government’s initiative of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and the resultant reforms initiated towards promoting self-reliance in the defence sector. He expressed confidence in the capability of Indian industry to meet the Army’s modernisation requirements indigenously and this was evident from the 36 Make-II projects that the Army was now progressing with the industry.
The Army Chief also highlighted that in the last one year despite the challenges of COVID, the Indian Army had made extraordinary progress. This had resulted in issue of 12 Project Sanction Orders and accordance of an equal number of AoNs. Very niche technologies were now under development within the country. The Make Projects have also been instrumental in enhancing the role of MSMEs in the defence sector with over 40% of the Project Sanction Orders issued to MSMEs and projects amounting to over 1,000 crores reserved for MSMEs.
Delivering the opening remarks, the Deputy Chief of Army Staff , Lt Gen Shantanu Dayal reiterated the Indian Army’s commitment towards ‘Make in India’ with design and development projects with the industry being undoubtedly the preferred mode of acquisition. Be it development of niche technologies or indigenisation of key equipment, the Make process afforded multiple advantages to both the Armed Forces as well as the industry.
Shri SP Shukla, Chairman, FICCI Defence and Aerospace Committee welcomed all the participants and appreciated the stellar role being played by Indian Army in partnering with the private industry in realizing indigenous solutions. Shri Sanjay Jaju, Additional Secretary, Department of Defence Production in his special address, highlighted the indigenisation priorities of the MoD.
During the webinar, the Indian Army unveiled Six new ‘Make-II Projects’. The new projects spanned technologies across unmanned systems, technologies to counter such systems as well as emerging solutions for augmenting air defence capabilities. Details of these projects were shared with the Indian Industry by the nodal officers and all queries of the industry on these new projects were deliberated in an interactive session. The Army would now work with the industry to evolve the development dimensions of each project.
A booklet on ‘Army Make Projects 2021’was released on the occasion giving out the current progress of ongoing projects, the new projects being launched along with allied information on the Make Process.
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PIB Headquarters
Busting of illegal telecom setup
A team of CBCID  along with DoT officers  jointly raided the premises of DRAV telecommunications at Thangam Colony, in Anna Nagar West, Chennai and busted an illegal telecom setup, based on the inputs provided by the Department of Telecommunications , TN LSA.
It was found that the setup consisting of Subscriber Identification Module  boxes, routed calls through Voice over Internet protocol  to terminate international call as local call bypassing International long distance operators . The SIM box fraud is a setup where fraudsters team up with partners abroad to route international calls through the internet using Voice over Internet Protocol . These international calls will appear as calls with local/national CLI. The SIM box enabled telephone setup causes revenue loss to the Telecom Service Providers  & Government exchequer. Such illegal setups may even pose threat to national security.
The illegal telephone setup was busted on 21.08.2019 . The equipments and setups were seized by CBCID. The setup consisted of 22 SIM boxes with approx. 1500 SIMs. 16 routers with pen drive. Foreign calling cards, Wifi dongles, mobile handsets and foreign currencies were also seized.
DoT has filed FIR against the accused for having performed such unlawful activities. One person identified as Muppiri Reddy and four of his employees were arrested.
DoT has notified a toll free number “1800 110 420 / 1963” on which the public can inform DoT call centre about receipt of an international call with local/national CLI  or no number displayed on their phone, according the press release issued by Ms. G. Kalaivani, Dy. Director General, Department of Telecommunications, Chennai.
Ministry of Finance
Direct Tax Collections for F.Y. 2018-19 up to December, 2018
The provisional figures of Direct Tax collections up to December, 2018 show that gross collections are at Rs. 8.74 lakh crore which is 14.1% higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year.
Refunds amounting to Rs.1.30 lakh crore have been issued during April, 2018 to December, 2018, which is 17.0% higher than refunds issued during the same period in the preceding year. Net collections  have increased by 13.6% to Rs. 7.43 lakh crore during April - December, 2018. The net Direct Tax collections represent 64.7% of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for F.Y. 2018-19 .
So far as the growth rate for Corporate Income Tax  and Personal Income Tax  is concerned, the growth rate of gross collections for CIT is 14.8% while that for PIT  is 17.2%. After adjustment of refunds, the net growth in CIT collections is 16.0% and that in PIT collections is 14.8%. It is pertinent to mention that collections of the corresponding period of F.Y. 2017-18 also included extraordinary collections under the Income Declaration Scheme , 2016 amounting to Rs.10,844 crore , which do not form part of the current year’s collections.
An amount of Rs. 3.64 lakh crore has been collected as Advance Tax, which is 14.5% higher than the Advance Tax collections during the corresponding period of last year. The growth rate of Corporate Advance Tax is 12.5% and that of PIT Advance Tax is 23.8%.
Prime Minister's Office
PM greets people of Karnataka on Karnataka Rajyotsava
The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people of Karnataka on Karnataka Rajyotsava.
Prime Minister said, “Karnataka Rajyotsava greetings to my sisters and brothers of Karnataka. Powered by the strength and skills of the people of the state, Karnataka is scaling new heights of progress. I pray for the happiness and good health of the people of Karnataka.”
Finance Commission
The Fifteenth Finance Commission meets representatives of Chhattisgarh PRIs
The 15th Finance Commission headed by Chairman, Shri N.K. Singh alongwith its Members and senior officials met today with the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions  of Chhattisgarh.
The Commission was informed that all 29 functions of PRIs as envisaged in the 11th schedule of the Constitution, have been devolved to PRIs in Chhattisgarh and the accounts are maintained upto 2017-18 and audited upto 2016-17.
Chhattisgarh has a total of 11,149 PRIs, of which 27 are Zilla Panchayats, 146 Janpad Panchayats and 10,976 Gram Panchayats.
As per the major recommendations of the 2ndSFC  recommended the total devolution of State’s Net Own Tax Revenue as 8.00%, out of which 6.15% to Panchayat Raj Institutions, 1.85% to Urban Local Bodies.
The 14th Finance Commission had recommended for the period 2015-20, a devolution of Rs. 4719.72 crores to Chhattisgarh as Basic Grant  and a devolution of Rs. 524.41 crores as Performance grant .
The Commission has observed that:
- 15th Finance Commission had recommended grants for only gram panchayats out of 3 tiers of PRIs. State Government may be asked to clarify whether it would like to continue this arrangement only for our award period or would like the other two tiers at Block & district level also to be covered.
- In 2016-17 & 2017-18, the own revenue  of Zila Panchayats and Block Panchayats were negligible
Representatives of 15 PRIs from Raipur, Bhatpara, Kotiyal, Sarguja, Ambikapuram, Narayanpur, Baster, Durg, Kondagaon, and Mahasamund were present for discussions with the Finance Commission.
Requirements of Panchayat Raj Institutions in Chhattisgarh as highlighted to the Commission, include –
- Address untapped water resources.
- GIS based planning.
- Expansion of Multi-Activity Centre for Livelihood of SHG members in all Blocks.
- Minor forest Processing Centres in 261 Gram Panchayats – high potential for Imli, Mahua, Kaju.
- SHG Working Shed with Toilets in 5055 GPs in 5th Schedule Areas.
- Road Connectivity – to connect all villages.
- Training of PRI Members for strengthening Panchayat Raj Institutions.
- Water Conservation – Rain Water Harvesting in all PMAYG Houses and in Government/ Panchayat buildings.
- NARVA, GARUVA, GHURVA, BAADI for transforming Rural Economy –
- Narva–Water Conservation works, Irrigation for doubling area under agriculture for doubling farmer’s income.
- Garva – Expansion of Gaothans in all Gram Panchayats, with Toilet facilities.
- Ghurva – Promotion of Organic Composting.
- Baadi – Promotion of Kitchen Garden for sustainable farming.
The Commission noted all the concerns highlighted by the representatives of the PRIs and promised to address them in its recommendations to the Central Government.
Prime Minister's Office
PM pays tributes to Maulana Azad and Acharya Kripalani on their Jayanti
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Maulana Azad and Acharya Kripalani on their Jayanti.
"Maulana Azad and Acharya Kripalani are remembered as exemplary stalwarts who made outstanding contributions to national progress. They devoted themselves towards empowering the lives of the poor and youth. I bow to them on their Jayanti. Their ideals continue to motivate us", the Prime Minister said.
Ministry of Earth Sciences
Weather Patterns and Pollution
A number of studies confirm strong correlation between changing local weather patterns and pollution in Urban and Rural areas of the country.
Local weather plays an important role on pollution. Stagnant weather conditions  are unfavourable for dispersion of the pollution. Air pollution is causing the global weather to change, and weather pattern causes the air quality to change. Because of global warming, more extreme weather such as extreme rainfall events, heat waves etc. are increasing, which can impact air quality. Heat waves cause an increase in ground-level ozone pollution because the chemical reactions that create ozone in the atmosphere occur more in hot temperatures. In winter, the pollution levels are very high due to low temperatures and stable atmospheric conditions.
The extreme weather conditions especially during winter season such as low temperature, calm wind, low mixing height and low ventilation coefficient cause significant increase in level of pollution in India specially in the Indo-Gangetic plains. During severe heatwave conditions, significant increase in ground-level ozone pollution has been observed. Dry, hazy air during summer season increases particulate pollution.
This information was given by the Minister of State  for M/o Earth Sciences and M/o Science & Technology, Dr. Jitendra Singh in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Electronics & IT
Student innovators of today will be the drivers of the Indian economy tomorrow: MoS Rajeev Chandrasekhar
75 student innovators from across Gujarat schools under Atal Tinkering Lab scheme felicitated
Meets CII Industry leaders and urges them to closely collaborate with Government to support the startup ecosystem in the state
Felicitating student innovators from various schools across Gujarat, Union Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said the young innovators of today will be the drivers of the Indian economy tomorrow.
“We look upon the young citizens of the country to be the key players in India’s development journey. They are the foundations on which Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s idea of New India, is being laid,” he said, giving away certifications to 75 young innovators who had trained under the Centre’s Atal Tinkering Labs  scheme.
The Minister said that India of today is a land of opportunities and the Government has made it easier for the students to avail of those opportunities by adopting well calibrated policies and schemes. He appreciated the SSIP Student Startup Innovation policy of Gujarat Govt which intends to encourage innovation in schools and colleges.
“You are extremely lucky to be students at a time when we are moving into a Techade of opportunities. You need to focus on Skills, upskilling to have a strong portfolio of knowledge,” Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said and spoke of how the National Education Policy 2020 has given flexible options and given a priority place to Skills along with education and knowledge.
About the Atal Tinkering Labs, named after Hon’ble ex-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar said ATL are truly working as gateways to innovation and technology and promoting a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in schools.
Referring to yesterday’s launch of Semiconductor India Future Design Program, by the Central and Gujarat government initiative, the Minister said it aims at targeting the future entrepreneurs in semiconductor and futuristic electronics. “We have been exporting these instruments for the past 30 years; with this initiative we hope to make them indigenously,” he added.
Later Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar met industry leaders, entrepreneurs, at a meeting convened by the Confederation of Industries in India  and shared with them Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji’s vision of New India and how they can closely collaborate to support the fast expanding startup ecosystem in the state.
He cited how 9 industry leaders have responded to the pitch that the Minister has made visiting almost all regions of Gujarat in the last 3 months. Industry leaders in Surat, Ahmedabad, Rajkot have come forward and formed venture funds to the tune of Rs 1500 Crore to support the startup ecosystem in the state.
He also informed them about how demand for skilled people is increasing both in India as well as abroad & encouraged them to support Up-Skilling & Re-Skilling of employees in their enterprises.
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Prime Minister's Office
Virtual Summit between India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen
1. A Virtual Bilateral Summit is being held between PM and Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on 28 September 2020, hosted by India.
2. India- Denmark bilateral relations are marked by regular high level exchanges and are based on historical links, common democratic traditions and shared desire for regional, as well as international peace and stability.
3. Bilateral trade in goods and services between India and Denmark has grown by 30.49%, from US$ 2.82 billion in 2016 to US$ 3.68 billion in 2019. Around 200 Danish companies have invested in India in sectors such as shipping, renewable energy, environment, agriculture, food processing, smart urban development Several major Danish companies have built new manufacturing factories under the ‘Make in India’ scheme. Around 25 Indian companies are present in Denmark in IT, renewable energy and engineering.
4. An MOU in the field of intellectual property cooperation between India and Denmark is being signed on the occasion. Another major outcome will be the joining of International Solar Alliance  by Denmark.
5. The Virtual Bilateral Summit will give an opportunity to the two leaders to comprehensively review the broad framework of the bilateral relationship in the context of the time-tested friendly ties between the two countries and give broad political direction for a strengthened and deepened collaborative partnership on key issues of mutual interest.
Prime Minister's Office
PM greets the people on the occasion of Ram Navami
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has greeted the people on the occasion of Ram Navami.
Prime Minister said, “रामनवमी के पावन पर्व पर सभी देशवासियों को हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं। जय श्रीराम!”